The noftris peters co



(No Model.)

' J. M. BURST.

GATE.

gljatented Oct. 16,1894.

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l UNrrsD STATES PATENT rrrcm GATE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,693, dated October16, 1894.

Y Application led February 26, 1894. Serial No, 501.580. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES MONROE HURsT, of Lucretia, in the county ofPulaski and State of Virginia, have invented a new and Improved Gate, ofwhich the following is a'full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in` gates and particularly to gateswhich are adapted for farm use; and the objects of my invention are toproduce a simple and strong gate which, in the main, is like theordinary swing gate; to provide means for latching the gatesimultaneously from top to bottom so that it cannot. be rocked on itslatch and thus broken or unfastened; to provide a convenient lever forsimultaneously operating the several latches; to arrange the lever sothat it may be operated by a person on horseback; to provide a guardwhich prevents the lever from being moved by live stock rubloing againstor on top of the gate; to provide means for automatically closing andlocking the gate, and in general to produce a cheap and efficient gatewhich is especially adapted for ordinary farm use.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of constructionandlcombinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification,

in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the closed gate, parts being shown insection. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the open gate. Fig. 3 is a brokenfront eleva-tion with the latches and latch bar drawn back to' releasethe gate; and Fig. 4 is a detail sectional plan on the line 4-4 of Fig.1.

The gate 10 may be of any approved construction, but it is preferablymade up of the usual parallel longitudinal rails 1l and the stiles 12and 14, into which the rails are mortised.

The gate is hung in substantially the usual way, between the posts 15and 16, and it is preferably provided with a vertical brace 17 and aninclined brace 18, although the body portion of the gatemay beconstructed in any ordinary manner Without aecting the principle of myinvention.

The gate is hung en hinges 19 of the usual sort, the upper one beingprovided with a wedge 2O to enable it to be adjusted in case the gatesags. Near the stile 14 at the front edge of the' `gate, is a verticallatch bar 2l which is provided with latches 22 `near the top and bottomof the gate and a middle latch 22 substantiallylike the others, lthelatches being adapted respectively to engage catch plates 23 and 23=L onthe post 16, the catch plates being of substantially the usual kind,beveled on the sides to enable the latches to engage them automaticallyas clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

The middle latch'22a projects y.behind the latch bar 2l andl enters akeeper 24,'the rear end of the latch being reduced, as shown at 25, andprojecting through the keeper to act as a guide, while around thisreduced end and lwithin the keeper is a spiral spring 26, the tension ofwhich is sufficient to throw forward the latch 22a, the latch bar 2l andthe latches 22, so that the three latches shall automatically'engagetheir catch plates. It will be -u nderstood that a greater or lessnumber of latches may be used, if'desired.

The latches are retracted by means of a lever 27 which is arranged in anearly vertical position so as to project above the gate top, the leverbeing fulcrumed on one of the rails 1l, as shown at 28in Figs. 1 and 3,and it is secured, as shownat 29, to the latch 22a, so that by swingingits upper end toward the post 16 its lower end is swung in thev oppositedirection and the latch 22a, together with the latch bar, retracted. Thelever is formedV at its upper and lower ends into handles 30, the upperof which may be conveniently grasped by a person on horse-back, and itis cut away lower down to form a hand hold 3l, while the whole upper endof the lever swings opposite and against a guard 32 which is rigidlysecured to the` gate and projectsupward a little further than the lever,the guard being recessed at 33 opposite the handles of lever, so thatthe said handles may be readily grasped. At the upper end of the guardis a shoulder 34 against and beneath which the upper end of the lever 27swings, and it will thus beseen that the le- IOO ver is held in such amanner that no live stock can, by rubbing on the gate top, swing thelever and unfasten the gate.

On the top of the gate is an apparatus for automatically closing it, andthis consists of the slide bar 35, which moves in an arm 36 attached tothe gate and on the top ot' the bar 17, the bar and the spring itcarries being arranged beneath a housing 37 to protect the spring fromthe weather, and a spring 38 is arranged between the arm 36 and a collar39 on the slide bar, against which collar it presses. On the inner endof the slide bar is a collar 40, to which are attached pull rods 4lwhich diverge as they near the post l5 to which they are attached, asshown at 42. The rods 4l are held loosely in the collar 40, so that theymay slide through the same in one direction, but are bent outward, asshown iu Fig. 2, to prevent them from being entirely Withdrawn.Consequently, when the gate is opened, one rod slides through the collar40 while the other pulls back on the collar-and moves the slide bar 85against the tension of the spring 38, and when the gate is released therecoil of the spring 38, acting on the tight rod 41, pulls the gate backinto a closed position, the latches sliding over their respective catchplates until they enter the slots in the said plates. If the gate isthrown wide open, however, the point of the pull is brought behind thehinges, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the gate will stay opened until itis swung off the center, but by connecting the rods 4l with a support infront of the hinges 19, the gate will be closed automatically, eventhough it be swung Wide open.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a gate having a plurality ofconnected latches and a lever for operating the latches and pivotedbetween its ends to the gate, said lever having hand holds at its upperand lower ends and one between its ends, of a guard adapted to preventretraction of the lever by animals and provided with recessesregistering with the rniddle and upper hand holds, substantially asdescribed. y

2. The combinatiomwith the swinging gate, and the gate post having aplurality of catches,

" of the spring pressed latch bar sliding on the gate, and a pluralityof latches carried by the latch bar and arranged to engage the catches,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the swinging gate, and the gate post `having aseries of catches, ot' the sliding spring-pressed latch bar on the gate,latches carried by the latch bar to engage the catches, and a leverfulcrumed on the gate and operatively connected with the-latch bar toretract it, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the gate and the latch carrying bar, of thelever fulcrunled on the gate and connected with the bar, and the guardsecured to the gate adjacent to the lever and adapted to overlap theupper end of the lever, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the swinging gate, of the spring-pressed slidebar mounted on the gate top, and the rods connected with the slide barand with an adjacent support near the hinged end of the gate,substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the swinginggate, of the spring-pressed slidebar mounted upon it, a housing for the slide bar, and pull rods looselyconnected with the slide bar and with an adjacent support near thehinged end of the gate, substantially as described.

JAMES MONROE HURST.

Witnesses:

F. W. MoRToN, J. C. WYsoR.

